This blog posts a three to five minute homily ideas for Sundays readings.

Thursday, December 19, 2019

Fourth Sunday of Advent Year A

Readings: Isaiah 7:10-14; Romans 1:1-7; Mt. 1:18-24

Does doing God’s
will and the messiness of life have anything in common? That is one question we
need to think about seriously this Sunday. In the last two Sundays we have
focused attention on John the Baptist. This Sunday, only days from Christmas,
we change our focus from John the
Baptist to Saint Joseph. The main reason for this shift is that Matthew writes
his Gospel for the Jewish people. He wants to show that Jesus is the Messiah
promised by the prophets in Sacred Scripture, and that He comes through the
line of David. Joseph is a direct descendant of David. In the Gospel
of Matthew, Joseph names the child. He gives his own spirit and all
he is to the child – the carpenter’s son. The child is Son of God and Son
of Mary, but also, through the action of naming the child by Joseph, He is Son
of David. Paul, in the Second Reading
argues that Jesus becomes the Son of God through the resurrection that fully
manifests his divinity. The
readings therefore place before us the mystery of the Incarnation foreshadowed
in the Old Testament, and fulfilled in the New Testament. In the first reading,
Isaiah offers a sign to king Ahaz confirming that the line of David would
survive the attacks from neighboring nations. The sign is that “a maiden shall
conceive and bear a son.” Very true to the prophecy, the young wife of Ahaz
bears him a son, whose name would be “Emmanuel.” Matthew in the Gospel uses
that story to show the fulfillment of Isaiah’s prophecy in Jesus the Messiah,
out of the line of David.

That is why the
Gospel begins by saying “This is how Jesus Christ came to be born.” He will be
named Emmanuel, a name that means “God-is-with us.”Two persons are at the center of this
mystery. First we have Mary who responds to God’s message through the angel
with unconditional faith and trust. In so doing, Mary risks so much: her future
marriage and family reputation, placing everything in the hands of God. Then we
have Joseph who at first is confused and afraid. We often hear that Gospel
passage, and perhaps we wonder what Joseph was afraid of. He must have thought of the messiness of his
own situation. He must have thought of a greater mess if he went ahead
with the marriage. He does not know what to make of Mary’s conception
before their marriage, but then divine intervention comes. An Angel of the Lord
appears to Joseph in a dream and reveals the mystery of the conception. The
angel advises him to proceed with the marriage, because Mary “has conceived
what is in her by the Holy Spirit.” Basically, Joseph is told to celebrate this
unexpected birth. When he awakes from his dream, Joseph decides to follow his
faith; to do God’s will and take Mary as his wife. In so doing, Joseph saves
her reputation. The Gospel tells us that Jesus is born of Mary who was
betrothed to Joseph son of David. In connecting Jesus to the line of David,
Matthew wants to underline the fact that Jesus is fully human and is also the
fulfillment of God’s promises to David. Jesus is also “Son of God”, a point
explained by Paul in the second reading. The Gospel also gives us a model to
follow in Mary and Joseph. Both faced a tremendous challenge to their faith
when God asked them to open their hearts to welcome Jesus into their lives. So
what message do we take home this Sunday? 1) Just as Mary and Joseph accepted
to welcome Jesus into their lives with deep faith and trust, we too are
challenged to do no less; 2) As we get to Christmas in a few days, let us open
our hearts so that in doing God’s will like Mary and Joseph, Christ may be born
in our lives this Christmas. 3) Both Mary and Joseph remind us that doing God’s
will at times may lead us into the messiness of life; into situations or even
countries we never dreamed of.